Winter Park Express

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"Ski Train" redirects here. For the general topic, see ski train.
Winter Park Express
Denver Ski Train 2003.jpg
Ski Train at Denver Union Station in 2003
Overview
Service typeRegional rail
StatusOperating (seasonal)
LocaleColorado
First service1940 (1940)
Current operator(s)Amtrak
Former operator(s)Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
Route
StartDenver Union Station
EndWinter Park Resort
Distance travelled56 miles (90 km)
Average journey time2 hours 15 minutes
Service frequencyFriday, Saturday, Sunday January-March
Line(s) usedCentral Corridor (Union Pacific Railroad)
On-board services
Class(es)Coach, Club, Private
Catering facilitiesCafe Lounge
Observation facilitiesVista dome
Technical
Rolling stockThree EMD F40PH locomotives
Eight Coach cars
One Retreat car
Three Club cars
Two Cafe Lounge cars
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
  • v
  • t
Legend
California Zephyr to Emeryville
 Fraser–Winter Park
California Zephyr
only
 "The Lift" Shuttle Bus
Winter Park Resort
Winter Park Express
only
 Moffat Tunnel
Denver Union Station
Regional Transportation District logo.svg
California Zephyr to Chicago

The Winter Park Express is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado.

The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad began running the Ski Train between Denver and Winter Park when the ski area opened in 1940. Ansco Investment Company ran the Ski Train from 1988 to March 2009, when service was cancelled due to mounting costs. Amtrak revived the route as a seasonal weekend train under the name Winter Park Express in January 2017, after several sold-out special event trains in 2015 showed popular demand. Friday service was added for the 2019–20 season.

The scenic 56-mile (90 km) route uses the same line as the California Zephyr, climbing 4,000 feet (1,200 m) into the Front Range and passing through 30 tunnels—including the historic 6.2 mi (10.0 km) Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide—before dropping passengers within 100 yards (91 m) of Winter Park's ski lifts.

Trains run on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from January to March. Service was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned in January 2022.

History[]

Ski Train at Tabernash in 2003
A man standing in front of the ski train on February 12, 2006

The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad started the Ski Train in 1940.

There was one trip in each direction per day, with a travel time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, assuming no delays from freight rail traffic.

In the 1960s, 22-car trains to Winter Park were regularly moving an estimated 1800 passengers, many of them young, unsupervised and sometimes rowdy Eskimo Ski Club members. On one trip a brazen youngster pulled the emergency brake on a moving train, damaging one coach's coupler and steam line. The railroad hired three sheriff's deputies to help maintain order.[1][2]

At least during the early 1970s, the train made a stop in the Rocky Flats area.[3]

Ansco Investment Company operation[]

In 1988 the operation was sold to Ansco Investment Company, which made various needed improvements and ran the “New Ski Train” for two decades under the reporting mark SKTX.[4]

In this era the Ski Train consisted of three locomotives pulling fourteen cars: eight coaches, three club cars, two cafe lounge cars, and one retreat car. The train accommodated 750 passengers.[2][5]

On January 21, 2006, the return trip was canceled after a coal train derailment blocked the line, leaving some 700 passengers stuck in Winter Park. Buses were summoned to provide return transportation to Denver, and refunds offered to those who made alternate arrangements.[6][7] Just two months later, on March 19, another freight train derailment delayed the return Ski Train for almost six hours, with the train arriving in Denver around midnight.[8]

In 2007, a blizzard forced cancellation of service on December 29th and 30th.[9]

2009 cancellation[]

The Ski Train made its final run to Winter Park on March 29, 2009. It had been burdened with escalating costs such as liability insurance coverage, operational conflicts with freight traffic, and substantial uncertainties posed by redevelopment of Denver's Union Station. These reasons, combined with the global financial crisis, meant that it was no longer feasible to operate the Ski Train.

The equipment was sold to the Algoma Central Railway, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway. Ironically, the Ski Train's cars had been originally built in 1968 by Hawker Siddeley for use on CN's Tempos. The F40PH locomotives and most passenger cars were refurbished and repainted to Algoma Central's livery, and are now in use on the railway's Agawa Canyon tourist train.[10]

Iowa Pacific Holdings revival bid[]

Iowa Pacific Holdings (IPH), a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom (including San Luis & Rio Grande in southern Colorado), made a bid to revive the Ski Train using an improved business model that utilized idle equipment from SL&RG's subsidiary, Rio Grande Scenic Railroad.[11][12] Plans fell through due to Amtrak, who would be supplying staff, classifying the Ski Train as a commuter operation vs. an excursion train, resulting in higher liability insurance.[13] Iowa Pacific sued Amtrak, which would have been found liable but settled the matter in court on December 23, 2009, five days prior to the first day operations were to commence (December 27), with a payment to Iowa Pacific. Full refunds were made by IPH.

Amtrak[]

The Winter Park Express in 2018

In February 2015, Amtrak, Winter Park Resort and the Union Pacific Railroad announced that a special one-day-only "Winter Park Express" train would run on Saturday, March 14, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Winter Park. With full-price tickets set at $75, all 400 seats sold out within 12 hours.[14][15][16] By popular demand, a second train was added for Sunday, March 15, and it also sold out quickly.[17]

With demonstrated enthusiasm for the excursion train, there were renewed hopes that the Ski Train would again operate seasonally from the recently redeveloped Union Station public transit complex.[18][19][20] In April, Amtrak and Winter Park officials met to begin work on a proposal to track owner Union Pacific for running at least two trips weekly during January, February, and March 2016.[21] In mid-November, the official word was a hopeful "we're still working on it,"[22] but, a month later, Colorado Public Radio reported "Ski Train Unlikely To Return This Season." Nonetheless, negotiations between Amtrak, Union Pacific, and the Federal Railroad Administration continued.[23]

In August 2016, Amtrak and its partners announced regular Winter Park Express weekend service from January through March 2017.[24][25] The train suffered its first major service disruption on March 11, 2017, when a freight train derailment forced the cancellation of the Saturday run.[26][27]

After a successful first season, expanded service was announced for the 2017–18 season, including first-Friday round trips and lower ticket prices for some departures.[28] The train utilizes the Superliner equipment used on the California Zephyr.

Amtrak added a Sightseer lounge and café car to the train for the 2018–19 season, featuring food and drink service along with floor-to-ceiling views. This upgrade had been the "biggest request" from riders.[29]

For the 2019–20 season, Winter Park's 80th, service was increased to three-day weekends (Friday–Sunday) for January through March.[30][31]

In March 2020, the Winter Park Express was suspended during a round of Amtrak service reductions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32] The train did not run in the 2020–21 season. In November 2021, Amtrak and Winter Park Resort announced that service would return for the 2021–22 season. The train is planned to run on its 2019 schedule, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday service from mid-January through early April.[33][34]

Amtrak reported total ridership of nearly 70,000 from the train's introduction in 2017 through to the 2020 service suspension.[35]

Route[]

The Winter Park Express stopped at the resort, just past the Moffat Tunnel's west portal.

The Winter Park Express runs from Union Station in Denver, Colorado, for 56 miles (90 km) to Winter Park Resort in the town of Winter Park. There are no intermediate stops. Heading west from Denver, the train climbs 3,960 feet (1,210 m) up the Front Range via a series of 29 tunnels—the "Tunnel District"—through the Plainview, Crescent, Wondervu and Gross Reservoir areas, then generally west along South Boulder Creek through Pinecliffe, Tolland and Rollinsville to the final mountain underpass, the 6.2-mile (10.0 km) long Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide. This is the highest railroad tunnel in the United States and the third longest, after the Cascade Tunnel in Washington state and the Flathead Tunnel in Montana.

On weekdays and during the off-season, riders can still reach Winter Park via Amtrak's long-distance California Zephyr. This daily train follows the same route from Denver, but does not stop directly at Winter Park Resort's platform (Amtrak code WPR). Instead, riders can disembark several miles down the track at Fraser–Winter Park station (code WIP), where a free shuttle bus connects back to the resort village (code WPS). Travelers thus have two train options on days when the Winter Park Express is running.[35]

See also[]

  • List of Colorado historic railroads

References[]

  1. ^ "The Winter Park Ski Train" (PDF). Colorado Ski Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Masia, Seth. "Ski Trains: A History". skiinghistory.org. International Skiing History Association. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "All aboard for future of Winter Park Ski Train service". SkyHiDailyNews.com.
  4. ^ "Railroad Reporting Marks -- S". www.pwrr.org. Piedmont and Western Railroad Club. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Winter Park Ski Train". Visit Winter Park, Colorado. December 2, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "URGENT ADVISORY". May 27, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2006.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "DRGW.NET - Rio Grande News Archives from January 2006".
  8. ^ "Rocky Mountain News: Local". March 20, 2006. Archived from the original on March 20, 2006.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Colorado Ski Train Opens 2006 Season". December 29, 2006.
  10. ^ "Agawa Canyon tour train to be refurbished, repainted". Trains Magazine. November 17, 2010 – via Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers.
  11. ^ Leib, Jeffrey (September 18, 2009). "All are aboard plan to revive Ski Train runs". The Denver Post.
  12. ^ Leib, Jeffrey (August 5, 2009). "Colorado Ski Train revival gathers steam". The Denver Post.
  13. ^ Leib, Jeffrey (December 29, 2009). "Problems derail revival of ski train". The Denver Post.
  14. ^ "Tickets sell out for train from Denver to Winter Park". 9News. Associated Press. February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015.
  15. ^ Stanley, Deb (February 25, 2015). "Winter Park ski train returns - for 1 day - through partnership with Amtrak". 7News Denver.
  16. ^ Blevins, Jason (February 25, 2015). "Amtrak revives Ski Train for one day to celebrate Winter Park's 75th". The Denver Post.
  17. ^ Paul, Jesse (March 3, 2015). "Amtrak adds second Winter Park ski train trip from Denver". The Denver Post.
  18. ^ Blevins, Jason (March 3, 2015). "2nd Ski Train sells out in 4 hours, stirs hope of Denver-to-Winter Park rail service revival". The Denver Post.
  19. ^ Herbert, Kiran (March 3, 2015). "All Aboard the Winter Park Express". 5280.com.
  20. ^ Biolsi, Peter (March 5, 2015). "All Aboard! Winter Park & Amtrak Revive Ski Train for Celebratory Journey". On The Snow.
  21. ^ "Ski Train revival in the works after two sell-out weekends". The Denver Post. April 20, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  22. ^ "Winter Park Ski Train: 'We're Still Working On It'".
  23. ^ "Winter Park Ski Train Unlikely To Return This Season, Says Resort".
  24. ^ "Amtrak, Union Pacific and Winter Park offer weekend ski train service between Denver and Grand County ski area". August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  25. ^ "Special Weekend Train to Winter Park Resort". Amtrak. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  26. ^ "Winter Park Express canceled Saturday because of freight train derailment". The Denver Post. March 11, 2017.
  27. ^ "Winter Park Express service canceled Saturday". KUSA.
  28. ^ "Amtrak adds three Friday round-trips, reduced fares to Winter Park Express ski train for 2018". August 24, 2017.
  29. ^ Renoux, Matt (January 4, 2019). "Winter Park Express now features lounge car with food, drink service". 9News. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  30. ^ "Amtrak Winter Park Express 2020 tickets now available". Winter Park Times. October 10, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "The Winter Park Express is Back and Launching its 2020 Season - Colorado Ski Country USA". www.coloradoski.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  32. ^ "Service Adjustments Due to Coronavirus" (Press release). Amtrak. March 24, 2020. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  33. ^ Harford, McKenna (November 9, 2021). "Winter Park Express to return for 2022 season". Sky-Hi News. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  34. ^ "Amtrak Winter Park Express returns". KUSA.com. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Amtrak Winter Park Express Back for the 2022 Winter Season". Amtrak. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

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